Ryan Vail is a producer from Northern Ireland I have admired for many years. Coming from the world of film and television soundtracks, I find his ability to create an expansiveness and cinematic quality in his work hugely appealing. Ryan is able to fuse beats with soundscapes effortlessly.
Earlier in summer I sent Ryan all tracks from my forthcoming IN-IS album ‘2068’ and he chose ‘Broken Ones (feat. Haula) as the track he wanted to remix.
I love that he kept the very essence of the original Broken Ones alive in this version, while developing it musically to bring the listener on a journey into unexpected places. Ending the track with a solo plucked violin running through a tape delay was inspirational!
Ryan Vail and Elma Orkestra created a beautiful album entitled ‘Borders’ last year that won the Northern Ireland Music Prize in 2019, the first electronic artists to ever win this coveted prize. I was at the awards in the Ulster Hall Belfast that night and they performed a track from their Border’s album with singer Moya Brennan, it was stunning.